danklife

Canon 5D rumors abound

Rumors are abounding about a new Canon camera coming out, the Canon 5D. 12.8 megapixs and a full frame chip. Spec sheet here.

Hmmm.... I have to lean toward saying it's a fake. The back photo shown in the forums looks identical to the 20D. Also, it would take too much market share away from the 1DS Mark 2, their flagship brand. While also taking away from the 20D, their Prosumer level of cameras which they just upgraded back in Feb.

And on a side note if it is real, as a 20d and Mark 2 owner, I WILL BE PISSED.

X labs

OK, not directly photo related but our computers are the modern day darkrooms so you better know how to take proper care of it. Enter the good folks at The X Lab. They put together a great site for all yourtrouble shooting needs. I found the page on Tuning Mac OS X Performance most helpful.

Did you know you could set your processor performance setting? I did not and mine was set to automatic instead of "highest". DOH!

How To Be Productive Working From Home

Found a great link for all you home office types out there on how to stay productive.

* Start out with something easy, fun or interesting. This helps you build momentum throughout the day.

* Stick to a schedule. Treat your days like a “regular” work day. Many people have found that a 9-5 or 10-6 schedule really helps keep them on track and productive.

* Separate your “work” area from your “living” area. This includes your phone and computer. If you’re a gamer, you should use a separate computer, or maybe a separate alias. Or hit up the Xbox like me!

* Get out and about as often as you can. Take a walk, go outside, meet people for lunch—that kind of thing.

* Work on networking. Since you probably don’t have coworkers, it’s good to get to know people who are doing the same things as you so you can socialize a bit, etc.

* Reward yourself when you’ve done something significant.

* Get dressed everyday. Don’t wear pajamas all day. It’ll make you feel less work-like.

* Set, and stick to, deadlines. Even when you don’t need them.

* Take breaks. Get away from the computer and don’t work through lunch. I’ve noticed this can be hard already. I’m beginning to force myself up and about every hour or so.

This is the hardest thing for me to do as well.

* Keep your weekends. Working from home shouldn’t change the work/life balance you’ve got. Well, unless it lets you do more “life”! ;0)

* Limit distractions. Keep your work area clear from things that might get you off track. Guess I need to move the PSP…

* Have a plan and goals for what you want to accomplish each week.

* Request feedback from clients and other folks you work with on a regular basis. This can help you identify shortcomings and keep you motivated to keep improving your skills, etc.

In general I love working from home, but there are a bunch of traps that one needs to avoid. This is a nice road map to dealing with them.

Printing Problems

So I began having issues with my Espon R1800 the other day. OK, like last week, but I have been busy and unable (willing?) to update. First, ink started splattering onto prints leaving a random dot of black or blue on the print. Then it gradually grew to the point where after printing for awhile it would look as if someone was running a paint brush across the prints while I was printing.

After numerous non- helping, ink wasting, apparently making it worse head cleanings I figured that I must have something stuck on the bottom of my print head. The more ink that saturated it the more ink it spread willy nilly on my prints. Something most likely related to the two long hair cats that so kindly allow me to share this house with them.

But how does one clean underneath the print head without taking the whole damn thing apart? I went to the tool cabinet and got out a couple screwdrivers, some needle nose pliers and a sledge hammer. Ready for anything I went back to the printer well armed, took one look at it and said "Screw this, TO THE INTERNETS!"

Some googling turned this nice link up. And it seems that Item 6 is just just what the doctor ordered. After some trial and error I would change a few things so here is the original method with my comments:

"1 - Press paper button for 4 seconds, the print head should be to the left.
Note: Some printers have a special button for this purpose.

2 - Pull power cord

This "frees" the printer head from it's locked position so that you can easily move the printer head back and forth with ease

3 - Tear paper towel in 1/2. (A full sheet is too thick when folded).

4 - Fold paper towel and lay it in the black plastic channel below where the print head travels back and forth.

6 inches of paper towel folder 3 times times to be 2 inches wide is ideal. This gives you something small enough to drop into the "channel" and it is fairly strong because it is 3 layers thick.

5 - Work the print head up over the paper towel (We are doing this on a dry paper towel so we can get the print head over it about an inch or two.)

6 - When the print head is up on the paper towel, squirt some Windex on the paper towel, and then move the printhead back and forth to scrub off the bottom.

Here is where I think they are on crack. Or don't own cats. I move the print head over the paper towel then pick up each end and "Floss" the under side of the print heads with it. Pull up one side, look for gunk, then pull up the other to see it it broke loose. After 5-6 pulls like this a blob of cat hair the size of a toupee came up on one side which I promptly removed. The windex seemed like a bad idea to me. It caused the first paper towel to rip when I went to "Floss" and the fibers were now added to the cathair. So skip that.

7 - Move the print head off the towel, pull the towel up and get everything cleaned up.

8 - Push the print head over to the right parked position.

9 - Plug in the printer and turn it on.

10 - Print the nozzle check and do a couple cleaning cycles as required to get any paper towel fibers off the bottom of the print head. They clean right up - and are worth it because you have removed any large buildups from the bottom of the print head."

And now printing goes off without any more ugly blobs of ink flying around. A very easy solution to a very troubling problem.